Computer Science Superheroes

About Marc Regis Hannah

Marc Hannah, while still at Stanford University, met James Clark. Together, they created Silicon Graphics. By the 1990s, the company became a half-billion dollar company and served big names such as BMW and Boeing. The company also worked in the film industry by providing video editing and special effects capable computers. George Lucas used these machines for some of his most famous movies such as Star Wars and Jurassic Park. Marc is well known for Silicon Graphics but he is also known for helping the expanded creation of PCs (Personal Computers). He was able to drag down the prices of computers. This not only made it easier for ordinary people to have access to computers but also opened more opportunities for people to go into the computer science field. Marc also was known to support freeware (free software that is open to the public). Notably, he invested in "Linux," a free operating system that anyone can run on their computer. Marc Hannah was also a trailblazer for the black minority. Marc Hannah advanced technology and helped shape technology as we see it now.

Reference

Blackpast.org

About Margaret Hamilton

After graduating college at Earlham College, Margaret Hamilton taught Math and French at a High School. She then, at 24, worked as a programmer at MIT. After which, she was hired for the Apollo Space project. Due to an incident that happened regarding Margaret's daughter, Margaret put in place a routine that would prioritize certain functions such as landing functions for the Apollo spacecraft. After working at Nasa, Margaret created the tech company "Higher Order Software." She then founded Hamilton Technologies Inc. There she created a new software language, "Universal Systems Language." This language of software helped remove many errors that would happen when developing software and helped software projects that would use it. Margaret was a trailblazer for women and for the world because of her advancements in computer science and by helping to break a gender barrier set in place at the time.

Reference

Scientificwomen.net

About Katherine Johnson

Katherine Johnson was a “computer” or someone who computed problems. This is what computers do every second, they run calculations from 0s and 1s. Katherine was hired by NASA as a computer in 1953. She calculated the trajectory of the space shuttle “Friendship 7”. John Glenn, the astronaut riding in that shuttle, specifically asked Katherine to confirm the numbers provided by the IBM computers. These computers ran calculations much faster than a human could. However, they were not very reliable in their calculations. As such, John Glenn didn’t trust them as much as he trusted Katherine to do the calculations. She then went on to calculate the trajectories of the Apollo 11, 12, and 13 missions. She is seen as one of the most significant women in science and technology. She was also awarded the National Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Reference

Nasa.gov